President Barack Obama's fifth State of the Union address is unlikely to have an effect on his approval rating, a new study by Gallup suggests. The study, published on Tuesday, notes that the president's past three State of the Union addresses have had little to no effect on his overall approval rating.
According to Gallup, these presidential addresses have had "little effect on how Americans view the president, despite the widespread media coverage on them." However, Gallup has noted a positive impact on approval ratings has been seen in four of the last six presidents during re-election years.
The biggest positive influence noted was in 1998 during President Bill Clinton's State of the Union Address, where he jumped 10 points, from 59 percent to 69 percent. In the last six presidencies, the smallest positive influence was noted in 1992 while President George H.W. Bush was in office. The biggest negative influence was also noted during President George H.W. Bush's term in office, when he dropped from 80 percent to 73 percent in 1990.
In 2010 and 2011, President Obama's approval rating remained the same before and after his State of the Union address, 48 percent and 50 percent respectively. Last year, however, Obama experienced a two-point jump in his approval rating from 44 percent to 46 percent.
However, Gallup notes that these recordings may be influenced by outside situations as the polls are conducted days, if not weeks, before and after the State of the Union addresses. President Barack Obama will enter this State of the Union address with a 52 percent approval rating from the American public and has remained at 52 percent in the last nine Gallup Daily tracking reports.
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